“Dad, oh dad!”
The man, quietly conversing with a young woman so as not to disturb the other patients, turned to his daughter.
“Nastya, behave yourself.”
“Dad, I’m tired of sitting here. I’ve already told everything to Liza. Can I walk down the hall?”
“Nastya, of course not. There are sick people here; they need peace.”
The woman smiled.
“Vitya, don’t be so strict. Nastya will just take a walk. Right, girl? She won’t bother anyone.”
The girl nodded energetically and then showed her father as if she were locking her mouth with a key. Viktor smiled. He adored his daughter. Just as much as his sister, whom he affectionately called Lizka. She was in the hospital with appendicitis, but now everything was fine, and she was being discharged in a couple of days.
They all missed her, especially Nastya, as Liza was like a mother to her, although she was still very young herself. When Viktor’s wife died, Liza came right away.
“Casually,” she said. “I’ll stay at your place, it’ll be easier with Nastya, and in general.”
Viktor knew that Liza had sacrificed her career. Temporarily, but still. She worked in a large company where she was predicted to succeed and left just before a promotion.
Nastya went out into the corridor, looked around. It seemed that no one was paying attention to her, so she could go again to look at the sleeping princess. Behind the glass door, on a strange bed, lay a beautiful princess.
She was so beautiful that it took Nastya’s breath away. The girl was sure that this was exactly the sleeping princess, because Liza had recently read her the fairy tale.
But in the fairy tale, a prince woke the princess, but here she was still asleep. Nastya reasoned, “Maybe the prince got lost or something happened to him, and the princess fell asleep again.”
The girl slowly walked down the hallway. Patients moved back and forth. Some children also came to visit, so no one paid attention to Nastya. Returning to the ward, she heard her father’s question:
“Well, did you have a nice walk?”
The girl looked frightened.
“Dad, tell me, can sleeping princesses be given injections not by doctors, but just by people?”
“Well, why not? Doctors are people too. And they can’t always be in white coats.”
Nastya sighed with relief. She kissed Liza.
“We’ll come again tomorrow. Don’t miss us.”
Liza hugged her niece.
“Oh, you don’t have to come tomorrow. If everything is fine, they’ll discharge me the day after tomorrow.”
Nastya frowned.
“No, we’ll still come, just to make sure everything is okay.”
Liza laughed, and Viktor said with a smile:
“You can’t fool our Nastya.”
The next day, chaos began in the clinic. None of the doctors had ever encountered a situation where relatives themselves demanded to disconnect a patient from the machines. Usually, it was the other way around.
Liza barely caught the attending doctor. Roman Yevgenievich stopped, looked at her with a strange glance, then shook his head.
“Ah, Elizaveta, something wrong? Concerned?”
“Concerned. You didn’t come in today, and I don’t know whether to prepare for discharge tomorrow? I need to warn the relatives to bring the things.”
“Elizaveta, let’s do this. I have an important consultation right now. Honestly, I can’t think of anything else. Closer to the evening, I’ll visit everyone and explain everything. And call the relatives. Agreed?”
Liza sighed.
“Agreed.”
“Can I go home today?”
“Today, no. It’s not been three days since the surgery.”
Liza sighed and, with her head down, went back to the ward. The doctor stood as if remembering where he was going, then raised his finger and quickly walked down the hallway.
Roman Yevgenievich had felt out of sorts since the morning. He was an old-school doctor and used to fight for a patient’s life to the end. But here a difficult situation had arisen. And most surprisingly, some colleagues supported the patient’s husband, who insisted on disconnecting her from the machines.
He couldn’t understand it. Yes, the brain was in a state of sleep, but it wasn’t dead. Unknown how long she could lie in such a state. But there were no clear indications for disconnection yet. Yes, the chances of recovery were minimal, but they were still there. And if not for the persistence of her husband, this issue might not have even been raised.
Half an hour later, all the doctors who observed Inna gathered in the ward. She had been admitted after falling from a great height. According to the protocol, she climbed into the attic of her house, supposedly after a cat, but lost her balance and fell.
The house was two-storied and sturdy, so the fall was serious. She was immediately taken to the hospital. Multiple fractures, injuries. But the most dangerous thing was that the woman almost immediately fell into a coma.
The doctors hoped that it was a reaction to the pain shock, and that she would soon wake up. But time passed, and there were no improvements. Yesterday evening, her husband called and demanded to disconnect Inna from the machines.
“I’ve been living in limbo for a long time! Honestly, I’ve mentally buried her. Even if you ever wake her up, she’ll likely be a vegetable. And that’s in the best case. It’s been over three months. I am her heir, and I demand to close this issue.”
It was unpleasant to talk to this man. But he really had the right to such a demand. However, the final decision remained with the consultation. If the majority voted “for,” then the machines would be disconnected. If not, the process could be prolonged for another three months. And everyone understood that the man only wanted the money. He was a loafer and a good-for-nothing.
As Roman Yevgenievich expected, opinions were divided. Half of the doctors believed that they should continue to fight. What “vegetable” could there be if the brain functions? All hemispheres work. We need to find the reason why the patient does not come out of the coma.
One of the young doctors smirked.
“You think old-fashioned. Look at the situation from another side. What about the relatives? How should they live?”
Roman Yevgenievich got angry.
“And what about the relatives? It’s not their life. Deciding whether to deprive a person of life or not can only be done by higher powers.”
“Roman Yevgenievich, you’ll even suggest praying.”
“Some wouldn’t be hurt by that, to cleanse themselves of sins a little.”
The young doctor meaningfully looked at the patient’s husband, as if twirling his finger at his temple. The man stepped forward.
“Listen, why do you need extra problems? You understand, sooner or later they will still disconnect her. I am the heir, and I will remember who interfered with me. She hasn’t moved, hasn’t reacted for more than three months. Isn’t it obvious that this is the end?”
The doctors looked at each other. Of course, there were indications, but in some ways, the man was right: after such a term, the chances of recovery were practically zero.
“Well, colleagues, your opinion?”
The room fell silent for a minute. And suddenly it was broken by a child’s voice:
“Not true. This beautiful auntie opened her eyes, smiled at me, and then this uncle came in, she got scared, he gave her an injection, and she fell asleep again.”
Roman Yevgenievich rushed to the source of the voice.
“You? You come to Elizaveta Sidorova?”
“Yes, and every time I go to this beautiful auntie. Yesterday she opened her eyes and smiled.”
“This is nonsense! You’re going to listen to a child?” — the patient’s husband grabbed the girl by the shoulder, intending to push her out of the ward, but other doctors intervened.
The head of the department sternly said:
“Everyone, leave the ward. Put security at the door. Roman Yevgenievich, find an adult to stay with the child while we question her.”
“I won’t leave until you disconnect the machines!” — the man backed away under the doctor’s gaze. — “You’ll regret this.” — He ran out of the ward.
One of the doctors returned with Viktor. He looked scared.
“Nastya, sunshine, what have you done?”
Roman Yevgenievich reassured him:
“Don’t worry. The girl hasn’t done anything bad. We just need to ask her a few questions. We can’t do this without your presence. Let’s go to the doctor’s office.”
“Nastenka, tell us again, only in more detail, what you saw.”
The girl sighed, looked at her father, and sighed again.
“When we came to Liza, I always went to look at the sleeping princess. This time I went again. I was watching her, and suddenly she opened her eyes. First, she looked around, then smiled at me. She whispered something, but I couldn’t hear. Then that uncle came in. The princess got scared, he gave her an injection, and she fell asleep again.”
Viktor nodded.
“Yes, yesterday my daughter asked if princesses can be given injections not by doctors but by ordinary people. I didn’t think much of it. I thought it was just child’s fantasies.”
The head of the department exclaimed:
“Wait, where was the nurse? Nastenka, did you see the nurse?”
“Well, yes, she was there too. But when the uncle came, they… they kissed, and she left.”
The room fell into dead silence. Then Roman Yevgenievich said:
“Could this be why the journal disappeared?”
Everyone looked at each other, and the chief doctor said:
“Alright, I’m calling the police. You all go to the patient. Do all the tests, take all the readings, but find out what he injected her with.”
Now real chaos began in the hospital. Doctors and nurses scurried around as if everyone had a jet engine turned on. Then the police arrived. Then the nurse was brought into the head doctor’s office.
She was escorted out of the hospital. All the patients who could move on their own spilled into the corridor. You can’t hide a needle in a haystack, and many began to go home on their own. The noise was as if it wasn’t a hospital, but a madhouse.
Viktor sat with Liza for a long time. He didn’t understand if he and Nastya could go home, or if they were still needed. Just before the hospital closed for visits, a tired Roman Yevgenievich came to them.
“Liza, home tomorrow. Could you leave your phone number? You and your daughter will likely be called to the station to give statements. Yes, of course.”
Viktor wrote down everything required on a piece of paper and handed it to the doctor. Nastya touched his hand.
“And did the sleeping princess wake up?”
The doctor smiled.
“Almost. Just a matter of hours. Imagine, you saved her life. Or woke her up.”
The doctor left the office, and Liza and Viktor simultaneously said:
“Well, Nastya.”
She blurted out by habit:
“What about Nastya? Why immediately Nastya?”
Then she fell silent, confused. They weren’t scolding her?
Almost a month had passed since Liza was discharged from the hospital. She had already forgotten that they once cut something out of her there. Today was Nastya’s 7th birthday. And they were preparing for the celebration at home. Her birthday was on the eve of Victory Day. So the mood was somewhat festive.
They sat down at the table at five. Nastya’s friends came, and their parents, and just as they began to cut the cake, someone rang the doorbell. Viktor raised an eyebrow in surprise. Who could it be? Liza waved her hand.
“I’ll open it.”
She returned a minute later with wide eyes.
“Nastya, you have guests!”
Behind Liza, an incredibly beautiful woman entered the room. Following her, two closely cropped men carried boxes and bags.
“Hello! Hello, my savior!”
Nastya jumped up and clapped her hands.
“Hooray! The sleeping princess woke up! And you’re even more beautiful than when you were asleep!”
Inna crouched and hugged her.
“Thank you, my dear. I will never forget this. And always, all your life, I’ll help you. Rather, all my life.”
“Inna? It can’t be.”
She straightened up, looking surprised at Viktor.
“Vitka, Sidorov? How? Wait, this is your daughter?”
He nodded, and then he couldn’t help himself. He hugged Inna, and she hugged him back.
“Vitka, you always saved me from everyone at school, and now? Now your daughter saved me.”
Absolutely no one understood anything. Viktor explained.
“Inna and I went to the same school. Everyone was in love with her, well, including me. But since I was an athlete, only I was allowed to escort Inna and fend off persistent suitors.”
She laughed.
“And then we moved, I lost my protector, and I married this one. Well, let’s not talk about sad things. Guys, get out the gifts. I hope there’s a place for me at your table.”
Liza winked at her older brother and whispered:
“It seems I can peacefully return to my career now.”
Viktor blushed, showed his sister a fist, and rushed to help Inna. In his head, there was real chaos. Only one thought was clear: “The princess has awakened, the princess is alone, and she’s here.”
A year later, Nastya’s mother became the princess. And also, she promised that soon she would have a little prince brother.